Our tiny caterpillars usually arrive from the University of Kansas, during the last week August 25.  We also collect caterpillars from local milkweed plants in our yards and along the roadways. Kids become scientists in this project, studying caterpillars, observing them, and measuring of the changes. Later, we will send them on their journey to Mexico on their amazing migration. Here you will see how we learn and play with the caterpillars and the adult Monarchs. 

Many Other Monarch Links at Journey North

Is this a caterpillar train?

The little ones become big ones.....

What is it? Why is it important? What can it do?

As we raise Monarchs in the classroom, we're also taking part in the annual Symbolic Monarch Butterfly Migration. We're doing this project with a few thousand students across the United States and Canada. We will help thousands of paper butterflies migrate to Mexico for the winter. Our paper butterflies from Missouri should get to Mexico about the same time as the real migrating Monarchs get there.

Mexican students will watch over the paper butterflies during the winter months. In March, the paper butterflies will be sent back to the US and Canada just as the real Monarchs begin returning from the mountains near Angangueo in Mexico. Students know that the Monarchs that go to Mexico are not the same ones that return. So when we receive our returning group of butterflies, we will find that they are not the ones we sent. They will be butterflies made by other students, perhaps with messages written in Spanish for us to translate!

New this Year! The project is changing slightly -- we will send a Monarch booklet in Spanish as well as all of our individual paper butterflies.
Details are here:  http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/symbolic/Make.html

A rare form of Monarch...

We tagged each Monarch like this on the back.

Check out the Journey North Projects home page. Learn more about animal migrations!!